I know, I know, and I really, truly am sorry. There's no excuse for this long of a wait. Well, there's lots of excuses, but none of them are all that good. Or even original. However, here it is: the long awaited chapter nine of Herman's in the TARDIS. Forgive me? Let me know what you think please! I was having trouble getting this chapter to flow properly.

Disclaimer: Wishes may be dreams that your heart makes, but not all dreams come true. Therefore, I am not he owner of Doctor Who or Harry Potter.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 9

Hermione was sitting up in bed and when she spotted the Doctor and Rose, she let out a sigh of relief and instinctively reached for her baby. However, when she caught sight of Ron, she let out a little shriek and turned quickly to the woman standing next to her. "Please, I don't want to see him…"

The healer nodded and took Ron by the arm, leading and pushing him back outside. Just as the door closed, a "Now wait just one minute!" was distinctly heard.

The Doctor frowned a little as he observed Hermione's reaction to her husband. "Hermione," he said, "it's none of my business what's going on with you and your husband, but I have to ask this: are you alright? I mean, I think you'll have to talk to him sooner or later. Can you do that?"

Hermione looked into his eyes for a moment before responding. "That's really sweet. I know I'll have to talk to him, but he has a temper when he's upset. I mean, he doesn't hurt me or anything. I just really don't want to listen to him yell about me and Rose being gone for three days without word and about how my recklessness was probably what killed our unborn child. Ron loves his family more than anything. But he needs some time to cool down before we can even hope to discuss anything like human beings. Tomorrow, we may be able to talk."

The Doctor looked thoroughly relieved at her answer and she chuckled quietly for a second. Once more, she reached for Rose. "Hi baby," she said, taking the little girl into her arms. Both girls wore large smiles now. "How's my little flower?"

Rose giggled and held tightly to her mother's finger. "Thank you for bringing her," Hermione said. "It means a lot." The Doctor sat down in a chair by the bed. As if reading his mind, Hermione answered the question he had not yet asked. "I don't know what happened back there. A silly password to a map shouldn't have done anything." The Doctor nodded. Once again, she perceived his thoughts, "I should be able to go home tomorrow. I'll be back to full speed in a few days."

"Good. There's lots to do." The Doctor answered instinctually, without thinking, but it only took a few extra seconds for it to sink in. Suddenly, he was worried. "Wait, Hermione—what do you mean by home?"

"I mean not here, where I can be with Rose. I'm not abandoning you, Doctor."

He grinned broadly. "Alright then."

She reached up and pushed back her long bushy hair with one hand. When it wouldn't stay back, she gave an exasperated sigh and gave up. "You were thrown back too, though, weren't you?" she eyed him, looking for signs of injury. "Are you alright?"

The Doctor reached for the back of his head and fingered a painful bump at the base of his skull. He then touched the back of his left shoulder and ran his hand down the length of his upper arm, checking his injuries. Once he'd affirmed just what kind of damage had been done, he responded, "Not too bad. I can live with it."

Hermione clucked her tongue menacingly as she waved over the healer. The Doctor became very defensive as the woman in lime robes circled around him and touched his hair. He was saved for the moment by Harry's reappearance.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, "Are you alright? Any idea what happened?"

Harry chuckled. "Hermione, I'm the one who should be asking you if you're alright."

She frowned slightly before answering. "Yeah, I suppose…"

The Doctor's moment of peace really was just a moment and he was attempting to fend off the rather confused and offended healer with his sonic screwdriver when Hermione turned to look at him. The healer finally managed to shoot off a disarming spell and the screwdriver flew across the room. "Damn magic," he muttered as he felt his limbs stiffen and he fell ungraciously back into the chair. A silencing charm soon followed as a distressed-looking Doctor loudly protested being prodded with a stick. Auror Potter had to stifle several guffaws with the back of his hand as he watched on. Hermione just gaped and wondered why he was so against having his injuries taken care of. Of course, the two magic-users had no idea that the Doctor had once been murdered in an Earth hospital.

The healer fixed what she could with her wand before moving on to potions. She had quite a lot of difficulty getting the strange man to take them, but eventually, she managed to force two of them down his throat. The charms were then released. Gasping for air and coughing, the Doctor just managed to choke out the word "Celery!" Of course, they had no idea what to make of it. It was at least a minute and a half later of coughing and diagnostic spells before he managed to speak again. "Get…me…CELERY!" Harry didn't have a clue why, but he did it anyways. By the time he got back, the Doctor was sprawled across a chair panting and pounding the right side of his chest. Hermione looked incredibly concerned, but the healer wouldn't let her move. The Doctor shoved the celery down his throat, not wasting time with any more chewing than strictly necessary, and promptly collapsed.

"Doctor!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Err…Doctor? You alright, mate?" Harry added, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. The Doctor twitched. Violently.

The healer was frantic at this point, and was trying to maintain a stasis spell, but was having little success. "Could be severe allergic reaction…" she muttered. "Maybe not quite… Does this man have vela ancestry?"

Neither Hermione nor Harry had any idea, which only served to frustrate the healer. Eventually, though, without any help from the medical staff, the Doctor began to stir. He'd been moved with some difficulty to a bed and his left foot twitched out a 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 pattern while his head rolled from side to side. "Tea," he breathed. One of the healer assistants rushed to conjure a tea set. His superior looked at him like he was an idiot, but swiftly changed attitudes when the Doctor took the tea cup, shakily took a sip, then proceeded to jump straight up out of the bed and do some sort of dance. He took one more sip of tea, then threw the cup, punched himself in the stomach, and vomited. "Harold!" he croaked.

"It's Harry, actua—"

"Yes, Harvey, go get more celery. Lots and lots of celery, please." He seemed to be recovering his voice somewhat at least.

Harry ran from the room to complete his quest. The Doctor lowered himself shakily into a chair. One of the healers made to take a step toward him. "You come near me and I'll throw you into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy," he warned. The healer decided not to move.

When Harry returned with a large bucket filled with celery—who knows where he got it-, the Doctor took it immediately and started eating. He grimaced with each bite, but consumed at least half the bucket full. "Tea?" he requested.

"Are you going to throw up again?" one of the younger assistants asked. The Doctor shook his head and accepted the cup of tea he was handed. "Thank you," he said after a sip. He drained the rest it with one gulp and stood up quickly, handing back the empty cup. "Where's Hermione?" Harry pointed then followed the Doctor back to the room Hermione was occupying, a few healers trailing behind.

The Doctor approached the bed where Hermione was waiting anxiously, leaned against it, and opened his mouth to speak.

"You look terrible," Hermione interrupted.

"Yes, I—"

"You should get some rest. Go back to the TARDIS and I'll see you when I get out."

"Yes, I—"

"What happened there, anyway? You are going to be alright, aren't you?" She sat back, bouncing Rose.

"Yes, I will go back to the TARDIS." Then he started muttering, "Never stepping foot into a human medical facility ever again. Evil—all of them. Out to kill me."

"Doctor?"

"Yes, quite right. Come find me when you get out. Did you want me to take Rose?"

She looked at him skeptically. "In your condition?" She shook her head. "Go."

The Doctor nodded. "Can I assume there's an exit into the muggle world?"

"Yes, just ask the people in the lobby."

"Ha! Ask someone! Open my mouth and they'll shove more poison down my throat. Then electrocute me!" The Doctor was walking away as she said it, but Hermione heard enough to worry. Still, there was really nothing she could do at the moment.

"Harry, could you take Rose for me? If's he calmed down enough then you can let Ron hold her for a bit. I need to get some sleep, I think."

Harry nodded and took the child. "Hermione, Ron is really hurting. He loves you."

"I know." She leaned back and scooted down in the bed.

Harry nodded and took Rose out of the room in search of Ron.

The Doctor continued muttering and throwing suspicious glances at everyone he passed as he made his way to the lobby. His hands were stuffed deep into his pockets, his coat flaring out behind him as he walked. He point-blank refused to ask any of the staff, however, so when he did reach the lobby, he picked out a particularly ill-looking person who had bright red flowers growing from one of his ears and walked toward him. "Excuse me, good sir, but could you point me towards the muggle-world exit?" The man coughed and pointed at a large window with old manikins in it. The Doctor furrowed his brow in confusion for a moment, but then shrugged, thanked the man, and approached the window. He touched it and, finding that his hand slid through, stepped out onto the muggle street. Relieved, he quickly set about finding a taxi and made his way back to where he'd parked the TARDIS. He needed a long shower and some rest.

When he woke, it was to the distinctive whirring noise of the TARDIS landing. He jumped out of bed quickly, forgetting about his recent bout of poisoning, and fell heavily to the ground. Standing more slowly this time, he steadied himself against a wall and ran a hand through his hair before attempting to take his own temperature. He wasn't positive, but he didn't feel too bad, so he made his way to the control room, clutching at railings when they were present and leaning against walls when they weren't. Pulling the observation screen around to face him, he gasped. It was like a nightmare! The TARDIS had landed back inside that damned hospital!

Typing hurriedly, he attempted to figure out why they'd moved. On occasion the TARDIS had taken off and landed on her own, but normally it was when he'd been moping around doing nothing for a few years. His search was interrupted, however, by a jolting. He lost his grip on the consol and fell to the floor as the whirring, grinding noise began again. As soon as the sound and shaking had ceased and he'd pried himself up off the metal floor, he looked to the observation screen. That room. Wow! The book was still sitting there on the floor. That wasn't exactly safe. He glanced down at the panels and then back up at the screen. There was a man in lime green robes prodding the book with a wand. Damn! He could still barely walk. He did not need this. Nonetheless, he had little choice in the matter. Wiping his face with his hand, he made his way down to the doors and flung them wide.

"Excuse me sir." The healer looked at him blankly. "I'm the Doctor and I believe that book is under my care." The man just continued to look confused. The Doctor sighed and, pushing aside his perfectly rational fear of medical persons, shoved the wizard aside and picked up the heavy book. He then turned to reenter the TARDIS only to have it disappear before his eyes.

"Damn it!" The Doctor was in a cussing mood today. "Fuck." He sat down on the ground, overcome by a wave of dizziness. It was not starting out as a very good day.

For those of you who may be confused about the significance of celery, it has wonderful properties in regards to Time Lord health. It is used mostly to indicate and absorb poisons and allergens.

As for the Doctor's ooc language, I think he's more than entitled to it considering what kind of a day he's having. Nearly dying in a hospital is traumatizing. Especially since he's actually died in a hospital in the past. He's feeling quite ill, is in quite a lot of pain, and is pretty pissed at the human medical profession. The language will return to normal once he's feeling a bit better. If you don't want to read it, don't, but a T rating has it covered.

Please, leave a review. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take quite as long.

Thanks for reading!

-MP